Auditions are even harder to land, so you have to be proactive. In a recent Esquire interview, Josh Brolin talked about how he willed his way into a life-changing role. It’s pretty damn cool:
In 2006, Brolin scored No Country for Old Men, which he cites as the turning point of his career. And the thing is, the Coen brothers never even invited him to audition.
At the time, Brolin was in Austin filming Grindhouse, the horror flick directed by Robert Rodriguez. One morning, he had breakfast with Sam Shepard, and Shepard told him about this new book No Country for Old Men. Shepard said the Coen brothers were doing it and he hoped they wouldn’t mess it up.
Brolin hit a bookstore after breakfast, picked up the novel, and read it that day. He was intrigued by Chigurh. “I mean, I know I’m not gonna get that part.” His agent said there was no way he could get him an audition. “That’s a given. I know I’m not going to be in this movie, but we’re in the dreaming business. I was like, screw it, I’m going to do my own audition tape.” Rodriguez lent Brolin the camera he was using to shoot Grindhouse, and what do you know, Quentin Tarantino showed up that day and offered to direct his audition. That tape led to a reading and to the role of Llewelyn Moss.
